A couple of months ago we asked you to vote on your favourite games of the year (up to the end of October, except for the blockbuster of the year award, which is still running now on the site). You’ve voted and now, in the coming weeks, we will unveil the results.
The process: Earlier in the year we asked you, our readers, to rank nine different games per category in order of preference (or how interested you are in a game, if you haven’t played it before). We have taken those rankings, averaged them up, and the resulting list below are the top four games – three runners up and the winner.
Thanks largely to Steam, the PC has undergone a resurgeance in recent years. No longer is it for the most dedicated of gamers, and no longer is it the most niche of game developers that support PC over consoles; PC once again gets all the major game releases, and has a thriving indie and art scene backing the AAA-releases up. So what did you vote as your favourite games of the year for PC?
Tomb Raider: The reboot of Lara Croft’s franchise, and the origin story of the woman herself has made for a very memorable experience. Sure in some ways it’s become a slave to the formula that is so dominant of the AAA-grade games now, but there’s the odd moment where Lara’s character and story truly shines, and that has made it stand out as one of the PC games of the year.
Papers, Please: When you’re a humble customs agent, how can you be sure the people you’re letting into the country are honest and their documents are legitimate? Or, how can you block them from entry into the country when by doing so you’re signing their death warrant? Those are the kinds of questions that Papers, Please raises, and by doing so it’s one of the most intelligent games you’ll find out there.
Europa Universalis IV: If strategy games are your thing, then Europa Universalis IV is THE game for you. Combining effective AI with the kind of depth that can take years to truly master, this game is nothing short of brilliance and a perfect example of the kind of experience that is almost unique to PCs, but boy are we glad it’s there.
Gone Home: There you go; proof that people who play PC games like a wide range of experiences; Gone Home is a little indie game developed by a tiny team that absolutely deserves the accolades that it got.
Why? Because it understands narrative in games better than most AAA-developers. There’s no need for expensive cut scenes that take control away from a player to make a game narrative work. Integrate the story with the gameplay, as Gone Home does, and you’ve got a truly special experience that could only ever happen as a game.
